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Marcus Stroud signs one-day contract to retire a Jaguar

Ending his career wasn't easy for Marcus Stroud. But a few weeks ago, the one-time All-Pro defensive tackle's body told him it was time.

"It’s definitely a tough decision, but at the same time you have to realize you can’t play football forever and there’s definitely a lot more things this life has to offer you," Stroud said by phone.

Today he signed a one-day contract to retire as a member of the Jaguars, the team that drafted him in the first round in 2001.

"That’s where I started my career, I consider Jacksonville like my second home," Stroud said. "That’s where my quote unquote football family is based. That’s where I felt like I gained my notoriety. That’s where I’ve always been at heart. I was a Jaguar from Day 1, and I’ll be a Jaguar now."

He spent seven seasons in Jacksonville before being traded to the Buffalo Bills in 2008. Stroud was there until 2010 before beign signed by the New England Patriots in 2011. The Patriots released Stroud in July when a shoulder injury still hadn't healed, six months after he had surgery.

That lingering shoulder injury is what finally ended his career.

Stroud suffered a torn labrum while in Buffalo and the following surgery led to complications. A staph infection that took a while to detect followed it. He had three arthroscopic shoulder surgeries before the infection was finally cleaned out of his shoulder.

"I actually made this decision a couple weeks ago, my shoulder wasn’t where I needed it to be or wanted it to be and I didn’t want to go out there and try... and mess up myself," Stroud said. "Just physically wouldn’t be able to do it anymore … I was fighting an uphill battle and at the end it just wasn’t meant for me."